The cover art of the Thermals’ latest, The Body, the Blood, the Machine, demands a close look. The intriguing collage features Jesus with a black bar covering his eyes, standing with his arms outstretched in a junkyard, surrounded by what look like dead appliances. So what the hell does it…
Although long in the shadow of scenemates Hüsker Dü and the Replacements, Soul Asylum ended up being the most commercially successful of the three. Early on, the act was derisively dubbed Hüsker Jr. by certain critics primarily because its early records seemed to imitate Dü’s high-trajectory melodic hardcore. But by…
Jonas H. Dahl, Arne Stöy Kvalvik, Ådne Meisfjord and Kjetil Ovesen, the four Norwegians who make up 120 Days, are too young to have lived through the nascent era of synthesized rock, and in this case, ignorance is bliss. Rather than put the spotlight on a few key elements, “Come…
By all accounts, Conner is from Lawrence, Kansas — although considering how frontman James Duft sings, with a tar-thick, faux-British accent, you’d be forgiven if you assumed the group hailed from across the pond. And ironically, the positive notices that the quartet has received thus far have all been from…
Guitarist/singer Coco Montoya started off as a rock drummer. Albert Collins walked into the club where Montoya was working, and the club owner let him use Montoya’s drum set — without asking him. Montoya blew a gasket, and Collins ended up calling to apologize. Collins phoned a few months later,…
There’s a good chance the Lord of Word is on his way to becoming the Lord of Dance. And, no, we’re not talking some Riverdance bullshit. You see, Theo Smith, who for seven years fronted the seminal Denver funk band Lord of Word and the Disciples of Bass, is trying…
In recent years, a spate of would-be synth-pop revivalists have come into the world. Some have mixed in rock instrumentals, while others have stuck to pure electronics. The resulting music — a good portion of it, anyway — has been self-consciously kitschy. Few acts, however, have pushed the art form…
The weather outside is delightful … but not in New York. The National Weather Service codes the Big Apple as a “Winter Storm Warning” area at this precise moment, and that means fans of folk legend Julie Collins are going to have to wait a week or so before they…
For most musicians, the notion of putting out one album per year is daunting. Summoning the wherewithal to pen enough material (a dozen or more songs in a twelve-month period) is an arduous task, made even more difficult by the demands of dealing with promotion and being on the road…
People are making music that sounds like ’60s rock or ’70s rock,” says Kris Anaya, the California singer-songwriter behind An Angle. “And I want to make 21st-century rock. But I’m still trying to find that sound.” Fortunately, Anaya’s attempts to achieve a creative breakthrough are interesting in and of themselves,…
In On the Download, we sort through the riffraff of the digital universe to provide you with links to the best in legitimate, artist-approved exclusives. It’s instant gratification at its finest, minus the spirit-crushing regret and premium price tag. One of the best things about attending the annual South by…
Exit, K-os’s 2003 debut, was supposed to be his only release. Instead, the success of that album paved the way for Joyful Rebellion, his critically acclaimed 2004 followup. Although K-os (aka Kheaven Brereton) is an award-winning artist in Canada, the MC has yet to transcend the underground in the States…
Since turning irony-minded heads in 2002 with its debut single “Losing My Edge,” LCD Soundsystem has made a name for itself as the leading purveyor of winking dance tracks. With big dumb beats, lyrics skewering all that is hip, and plenty of a-go-go bells, the Soundsystem and its production alter…
Yes, the Apostle’s latest is artsy. But rather than overemphasize his eagerness to tweak convention, head Hustler Andrew Whiteman (of Broken Social Scene fame) presents his quirks with a warmth and subtlety that’s as low-key as it is effective. There’s plenty of post-rootsiness on display here, with nearly every tune…
The music of Fever Dream (which celebrates the release of this CD on Saturday, March 17, at Cricket on the Hill, with Yerkish and Amphibious Jones) could hardly be more straightforward. But the simplicity of its sound is both an asset and a limitation. The key elements here are Robin…
On the cover of Hunter Dragon’s second release, Weary of Dostoevsky, two men are depicted leading a pair of youngsters down a river, possibly en route to being baptized. But this is not your ordinary baptism, as evidenced by the rainbow beams shooting out of the eyes of one of…
Air, Pocket Symphony (Astralwerks). After spending a couple of albums trying to broaden their palette, the French duo of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel have gone back to their original color scheme, and thank goodness. On Pocket Symphony, up-tempo and mid-tempo are one and the same, and beauty is accompanied…
It’s a good thing the Get Up Kids quit when they did, what with melodic emo’s eventual exile into self-parodying obsolescence. With their legacy firmly in place, the Kids could have vindicated all the uber-indie naysayers and phoned in a series of mediocre latter-day offerings. Instead the act opted to…
Most established bands change names only under a judge’s orders — but Priestbird, appearing this Monday with the Sword, isn’t most bands. Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans and Gregory Rogove originally performed together as Tarantula A.D., and their notoriety was definitely on the rise; Pearl Jam hooked up with the trio…
A Russ Meyer girl on steroids, platinum blond and inked from head to toe, Miss Eva von Slut is a whole lotta woman. In a corset, she’s got enough cleavage to bounce a pound of loose change off. And she’s got plenty of curves — dangerous curves, man. So it’s…
TV on the Radio, fronted by Brooklyn artiste Tunde Adebimpe, is simultaneously progressive and regressive — a forward-looking throwback that’s defined by its ambiguity. Unlike all but a few recent albums, Return to Cookie Mountain, the outfit’s latest full-length, is less a collection of songs than an overweening sonic statement…
If funkmaster Isaac Hayes became a member of Tortoise, the resulting collaboration might sound like the psychedelic dub of Sound Tribe Sector 9. Mixing metaphysical mysticism with jazz aesthetics and electronica, the Georgia five-piece traffics in spacey jam rock that’s original, danceable and completely captivating. Cosmic guitars, crackling laptop effects,…
